Natural Steps
by Lyralocke
Summary: Kataang, oneshot. While Katara waits for Aang to wake up, she realizes that she has taken the next natural step in her life: falling in love with her best friend.


_I wrote this a while ago... right after the season finale. It's just a oneshot. Hope you like it._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar_

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**Natural Steps  
**

She didn't know when it happened. It had been so natural, she hadn't even noticed. But there she was, at his bedside, and she knew without a doubt that it happened. Katara had fallen in love with her best friend. Every slow, agitated breath that escaped him was like music to her ears, just knowing he was alive. She had almost lost him just forty eight hours ago, and she still wasn't sure when he would wake up. If he would wake up. She sighed and leaned back against the wall, trying to get more comfortable in her position on the floor beside his bedroll. She started drifting off, thinking of what had happened.

Aang was fast. He moved in circles as his airbender training dictated. His enemies could never get their hands on him. He had escaped from a thousand skirmishes without a scratch on him. But this was no skirmish. This was a battle. And in those few moments in which he was defenseless, those few moments in which the Avatar State overtook him completely, Azula had seen her opening and attacked.

Aang fell. Katara watched in horror.

She froze. She gasped. She closed her eyes against the tears. And then, time slowed down. Instinct took over. She was racing forward in a wave of water, engulfing the firebenders, engulfing the prince she thought had changed and the princess she silently vowed revenge upon. Finally, she felt his weight in her arms. She settled on the ground and looked down at him. Time stopped.

_If he doesn't wake up..._

_If he leaves me..._

Everything suddenly became very clear to the devastated waterbender. She finally noticed that flicker. That wild heat. That absolute knowing that she would do anything to get him to open his eyes, to get him up and smiling at her again.

"You've got to get out of here!"

Katara looked up. To her surprise, Prince Zuko's uncle was standing between her and his own niece and nephew.

"I'll hold them off as long as I can!"

Katara nodded without a second thought. She didn't remember how they got out of the palace. Everything was a frightened blur. All she remembered was Aang, very nearly lifeless, and vaguely wondering if Iroh was okay. He had, after all, saved their lives.

The first clear memory Katara had was flying through the night sky on Appa's head, Sokka, Toph, Bosco, Momo, and the Earth King on his back. She yanked on the chord around her neck, pulling out the tiny vial of water.

"The water has unique properties," Master Pakku had said.

This water would save Aang.

_Please... please let it save Aang._

She held it to the wound on his back. She took a breath.

Nothing happened.

She was so scared.

She pulled him against her, barely restraining a sob. But her eyes opened quickly when she saw something. Glowing. Aang's tattoos glowed for a moment. She could feel his chi flowing back into him, life returning. The Avatar Spirit.

_Oh spirits... he's alive..._

She smiled at him. He smiled at her. She pulled him against her again. Just to feel his heartbeat and his breathing against her.

They flew to the Eastern Air Temple, hoping to find the guru Aang had seen. Hoping he could help. When they got there, Sokka, Toph, and the Earth King went to speak to him. Katara stayed with Aang. She found a warm, dry place within the ruins of the temple to make a fire and laid him on her bedroll beside it, sitting against a crumbling stone wall close to his side.

Sokka and Toph came in every so often to try to get her to leave, to eat something or sleep for a while. But she refused. When Aang woke up, she was going to be right there beside him.

So there she was, sitting beside the young Avatar, wondering how she had fallen in love with him. Fallen very hard. He muttered a little in his sleep and Katara looked up quickly. She sighed a little, seeing he hadn't woken up.

"Aang..." she sighed, watching him. "Please wake up..." She leaned over him a little, placing a hand on his forehead to feel for a fever. "I'm really worried about you. And I know how you hate it when I worry. So... if you could just wake up, I would stop worrying."

She bit her lip when he mumbled again, but it was to no avail. "Okay, so I'd still be worried," she admitted quietly. She stifled a yawn. It was getting late, and she hadn't slept in more than two days. She lied down on the floor beside him and turned on her side so she could still watch him. She stifled another yawn and propped her head up on her elbow, gazing tiredly at him.

"How'd you do it?" she whispered after a while. "I suppose it wasn't something you did at all. It was just you being you." She smiled sadly. "I guess that's the real thing then, isn't it. You were just yourself, just Aang, and I fell in love with you. It was just the next natural step in my life."

Katara settled down on the floor, eyes sliding shut. She laughed a little. "I'm in love with you," she sighed. She opened her eyes one last time. "And you don't even know it. But if you would just... wake up... I could tell you." He stirred, but didn't wake. She sighed and closed her eyes. "Maybe later..."

Katara finally fell asleep.

When Aang woke up several hours later, he opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Katara asleep beside him. Her hair was a mess, her skin was pale but for a slight blush on her cheeks, her lips were dry, and there were bags under her eyes. Aang smiled. She had never looked so beautiful.

She sighed in her sleep. Aang reached forward weakly and brushed some hair from her face.

"Aang…" she murmured quietly. Aang smiled. She sighed again, scooting closer to him and resting her forehead against his chest. Aang blushed, but he didn't wake her up. He just let out a sigh of his own, noticing for the first time where he was and what had happened. His eyes widened a little and he looked down at her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't want to let you go. I couldn't. You mean too much to me." A sharp pain shot through his back, but he ignored it. "I'm in love with you." Katara stirred, but she didn't wake up. Aang leaned forward and rested his head on top of hers. "I'd like to tell you, but knowing you, you haven't left my side in days. So I'll let you sleep. …But I really do want to tell you."

Katara sighed again. Aang closed his eyes. "Maybe later…"


End file.
